Worship
Service for May 9, 2021
Announcements –
We will be
led in worship by Rev. Bob Ruefle at Olivet (9:45am) and at Bethesda (11:15am),
but here is my posted worship service with another snip-it of a sermon. I will be back in the pulpit at both churches
next week.
· Session
Zoom Meeting on Tuesday, May 11 at 7:00pm
· Food
Bank delivery at Olivet on Friday, May 14 at 9:30am
Happy Mother's Day
Prelude – Panis Angelicus
with Hauser, Cello
Call to Worship
L: O sing to the Lord a new song, for God has
done marvelous things.
P: The Lord has made known His victory.
L: The earth has seen the victory of our God.
P: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the
earth;
L: break forth into joyous song and sing
praises.
P: Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
L: Let the flood clap their hands, let the
hills sing together for joy at the presence
of the Lord.
P: For the Lord is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the
world
with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
Opening Hymn – Christ is Made the Sure Foundation
Prayer of Confession
Jesus, friend
and brother, You taught us to abide in Your generous love, for it completes our
lives and gives us joy; You ask us to love others as You have loved us, for it
brings Your creation to fruition. We
sometimes struggle to love the people in our lives as You have loved us. Forgive us, we pray, and teach us Your love
again. (silent prayers are offered) AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon
L: Long ago Jesus said to His disciples, “I
have called you friends, because I made known to you everything that I have
heard from God. You did not choose me,
but I chose you!” Jesus speaks these
words to us today. Jesus forgives us and
chooses us to be His friends, sharing His great work of love.
P: Thanks be to God, Hallelujah!
Gloria Patri
Affirmation of Faith/Apostles’
Creed
I believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the
third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the
resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN
Pastoral Prayer
Almighty God, Your
strength and might overshadow the darkness of the world. Your presence gives us joy and contentment,
even in the midst of suffering. Hear us
as we cry out to You, and enter every situation of need with Your life-giving
love. Teach us to trust You through
every trial and problem we face, that we might serve as a witness to others of Your
unfailing love and mercy. In the same
way You come to us with compassion and grace, send us to others with the light
of Your hope. Today we also give thanks for our mothers and for all the women in our lives who have been like mothers to us - who have nurtured us and given us comfort, strength, compassion, and wisdom. We honor them with our own lives. This day, we also offer up
in prayer…
In this time of silence
Lord, hear the prayers of our hearts.
In God’s amazing grace,
God hears our every prayer. Now, with
one voice, we pray together saying…
Our Father, who art in
heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Scripture Reading(s):
Psalm 98:1-9
1O sing to the Lord a new
song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have
gotten him victory.
2The Lord has made known his
victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3He has remembered his steadfast
love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have
seen the victory of our God.
4Make a joyful noise to
the Lord,
all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5Sing praises to the Lord with the
lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6With trumpets and the sound of
the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
7Let the sea roar, and all that
fills it; the world and those who live in it.
8Let the floods clap their
hands; let the hills sing together for joy
9at the presence of the Lord, for he is
coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the
peoples with equity.
1 John 5:1-6
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of
God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. 2By this
we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his
commandments. 3For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And
his commandments are not burdensome, 4for
whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that
conquers the world, our faith. 5Who is
it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of
God?
6This is the one who came by
water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and
the blood. And the Spirit is the one
that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.
Sermon – For Whatever is Born of God, Conquers
the World
Verse
4 in this letter from John struck me in today’s reading, “For whatever is born
of God, conquers the world.” What, then,
is born of God? If we can answer that question,
we might be able to do what the author of this letter says, “conquer the world”. One of the themes that has been coming up
over and over again in our lectionary readings recently is the idea of loving
one another – so, I think it might be safe to say that love is born of
God. And the second aspect of this is
our own creation. Out of love God
created us. We were made because of God’s
great love for God’s own creation and all things were made for our enjoyment.
However,
there are moments in life when we don’t feel particularly loved. There are moments in life when the burdens, worries,
pain, and suffering overshadow all else; when we are falling apart. A friend of mine recently posted this dialogue
between a person and God and I thought I’d share it.
Me: Hey God.
God: Hello.....
Me: I'm falling apart. Can you put me back together?
God: I would rather not.
Me: Why?
God: Because you aren't a puzzle.
Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are
falling down onto the ground?
God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell
off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces
back.
Me: You don't understand! I'm breaking down!
God: No - you don't understand. You are
breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding
the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't
falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and
allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto
the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go.
Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?
God: Only the very best pieces of you.
Me: I'm scared of changing.
God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!!
YOU ARE BECOMING!
Me: Becoming who?
God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person
of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace
and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to
adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those
things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become
who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it.
Me: There goes another piece.
God: Yep. Let it be.
Me: So ... I'm not broken?
God: Of course Not! - but you are breaking like
the dawn. It's a new day. Become!!!
~Author Unknown
When we eventually
get to the place of understanding our own brokenness as our new “becoming”, we can
lean into God’s great love for us and conquer the world.
Prayer of Dedication
Pour Your Spirit upon these
gifts, O God. Send them into the world
as a sign and song of Your joyous work of love.
Use them to call and welcome into Your house of love all who are Your
friends and our brothers and sisters.
AMEN.
Closing Hymn – Immortal, Invisible God only Wise
Benediction
Jesus speaks today, “This is my commandment, that you love
one another as I have loved you.” God in
joy and faithfulness, knowing that you, the chosen friends of Christ, abide in
Jesus’ love and bear the gift of this love to the world. AMEN.
Postlude
– Jeremiah
Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary
